An “independent label” in South Carolina is churning out mountains of AI slop featuring AI-generated “viking rappers” — alongside suave Christian rockers, for some reason — and blasting it across social media sites and music streamers, where it’s doing some serious numbers.

We first came across the AI-generated vikings by way of short, 30-second clips posted to Facebook. The AI-generated videos feature a line-up of ripped, heavily-tattooed men and women whose long hair is often seen in dreadlocks or braided into cornrows. (Although — yes — they are all white.) The videos frequently showcase the characters in modern-looking recording studios, scenes which are intermixed with AI-generated footage of them standing with viking-coded animals like wolves and ravens, wearing furs on mountaintops, or standing in front of tattered flags over grim-looking battlefields.

“Honor. Blood. No surrender,” reads the Facebook bio for an AI-generated persona dubbed “Ravnlore,” which urges potential followers to “enter Valhalla.” An associated YouTube page adds: “RAVNLORE is not just music — it’s a war cry echoing through ancient forests, a story whispered by ravens, and a call to those who refuse to live quietly.”

Over on Spotify, the cover art for one of Ravnlore’s most recent album — titled “TAKE THE OATH” — pictures him shirtless as he does heavily-weighted bicep curls; a raven sits on one end of the bar, and the two are surrounded by flames. This is the ninth of 12 full-length albums that Ravnlore has published this year, according to his Spotify history.

Ravnlore frequently features another AI-generated artist named “Ravynna.” On a separate Facebook page, Ravynna is described as a “vocalist for Ravnlore” who’s “known for powerful, emotional music.” Songs by Ravnlore and Ravynna include titles like “SHE WALKS THE BATTLEFIELD,” “Train for Valhalla” (it seems the vikings lost the caps lock for this one), “BREAK THE WEAK,” and “BLOOD OATH RITUAL.”

While digging through Ravnlore and Ravynna’s profiles, we noticed that an email address associated with Ravnlore’s Facebook page was also listed on that of another clearly AI-generated — though very different, as far as religious traditions go — artist: “Hammer to the Cross,” which is described in its Facebook bio as a “Southern Grit Gospel” band that preaches “truth,” “redemption,” and “no compromise.”

Hammer to the Cross’ lead singer is portrayed via AI-generated imagery of a lanky, unshaven man with long dark hair, whose shirt is often unbuttoned to reveal a thick cross necklace. This nameless persona often performs duets with a young, conservatively-dressed woman with long red hair; on the cover of one album, titled “Glory to the Most High,” the pair are pictured on the steps of a church. The group’s songs include titles like “Mama’s Prayers,” “The Sound of Hooves in the Sky,” “Grandaddy’s Bible,” and — yes, this is a separate song — “Your Grandaddy’s Bible.”

“We got to bring God back home,” a gruff AI-generated voice screeches in a gas leak Creed-esque song titled “Bring God Back Home,” an AI-generated video for which has racked up over 24,000 views on YouTube. “Back to the table. Back to the school yard. Back to the family. Back to our hearts. We got to fall on our knees before we fall apart.”

Hammer to the Cross is even more prolific than Ravnlore: the AI-generated Christian rock band has released over 30 full-length albums since 2025.

As everything about these AI-generated artists suggests: the music isn’t good. The men’s voices are grating, and every song has the vibe of either the worst wall hanging at Hobby Lobby or the last can of Monster Energy at the world’s grungiest Sheetz.

But others may disagree: these AI-generated acts seem to scratch an itch for certain listeners, since they’re garnering some real numbers.

According to Hammer to the Cross’ Spotify page, the band’s many albums have raked in 56,699 monthly listeners. Where the AI-generated Christian band really seems to be successful, however, is TikTok, where it boasts over 364,400 followers, and Facebook, where it has over 200,000 followers.

Ravnlore’s Facebook page, meanwhile, lists over 437,000 followers, while its Spotify shows 163,687 monthly listeners. (Ravynna has almost hit 10,000 followers on Facebook, but her account is only a few weeks old.) And on YouTube, Ravnlore and Hammer to the Cross are both regularly raking in tens of thousands — and in some cases over 100,000 — views.

With the exception of TikTok, which has flagged the artists’ content as AI-generated, these accounts don’t disclose the role of AI in the creation of the music or the artists themselves. And in the comments section, it’s clear that a lot of folks — older ones especially — think they’re looking at real musicians.

“Love this music,” reads one comment on a Ravnlore video, adding that it “reaches the Viking soul inside me.”

“I don’t think you can sing a bad song,” another commenter wrote on a Hammer to the Cross video. “Keep on keeping it on brother! God bless you!”

As we looked around Hammer to the Cross’ various social media pages, we noticed that one name kept coming up: Jared Holm, who on Spotify is listed as the copyright owner of the Christian rock group’s music and, over on Apple Music, is credited as the sole composer, lyricist, producer, and engineer behind its many songs.

This took us to a Facebook page for one “Reverend Dr. Jared Holm,” who is self-described as the “president” of a company called “Iron Faith Records.”

Iron Faith Records, according to yet another Facebook page, is a South Carolina-based “independent label delivering gospel rock, outlaw country, and cinematic sound with real message, real struggle, and real purpose.”

Despite the repeated use of the word “real” to describe its music, however, the artists it promotes are anything but: its roster includes Ravnlore, Ravynna, and Hammer to the Cross, in addition to another Christian rock band called “Outlaw Renegades” and two more viking rappers dubbed “Apexwolf Beats” and “Frostwolflore Beats.” Needless to say, all these artists are AI-generated.

A Facebook page for Apexwolf and Frostwolflore lists 1.6 million followers, while their respective Spotify profiles claim 158,686 and 19,426 monthly listeners. (Outlaw Renegades hasn’t been quite as successful; its Spotify page only shows 10 monthly listeners.)

Collectively, Iron Faith’s AI-generated artists appear to have racked up millions of follows, views, and listens across social media channels and music streamers.

Holm’s current Facebook profile picture is AI-generated to depict him in an office. He’s pictured sitting behind a thick wooden desk, surrounded by golden records and a plaque reading: “FAITH. FAMILY. LEGACY.” He looks decidedly similar to the lead singer of Hammer to the Cross: unshaven, dark hair left long and loose, and a dark shirt unbuttoned to reveal a cross hanging from a chain around his neck.

Though this profile image is AI-generated, Holm is a real human. According to his LinkedIn, he worked as an administrative assistant for an HOA management association in South Carolina until August 2025. Hammer to the Cross’ Facebook page shows that it was created in October 2025; Ravnlore’s page was created in March, and Ravynn’s showed up in May.

Facebook posts further show that Holm is married to a woman named Samantha Davis, a digital creator who has a history of making fan edits of viking shield maiden cosplayers. Instagram and TikTok accounts linked to Davis direct to the Facebook page for Apexwolf Beats and Frostwolflore Beats. The Facebook page for Apexwolf, launched in 2023, is operated under the same username as a TikTok account associated with Davis, on which she’s published “shieldmaiden” content dating back to 2023.

We reached out to Iron Faith Records with a list of questions about its content, whether Holm and Davis are the operators of these many AI-generated personas, and if it’s ethical to fail to disclose that an alleged musician is, in fact, an unreal AI-generated persona. We also asked if Iron Faith could confirm that Holm is indeed an ordained reverend. (We found it pretty interesting that an ordained member of the Christian clergy would be cool with promoting music about Nordic gods that often explicitly praises Paganism.)

We went on to exchange a series of emails with Holm, who politely insisted that while the artists appear online as jacked AI-generated constructs, the artists are real people who are not operated by himself and his wife — and their music, he further claimed, is AI-free.

“Iron Faith Records is operated independently, and we manage multiple creative projects under the label umbrella. All content is human generated, wrote, and composed with AI only assisting social media content,” said Holm, adding that the acts it represents are “artistic brands and creative music projects developed through a combination of songwriting, creative direction, production, and modern music technologies, including AI-assisted tools only utilized for video production for short and long form content.”

Holm likened Iron Faith Records’ use of AI-generated entities to represent its roster of artists to that of other “virtual bands, animated performers, studio collectives, or fictionalized artist concepts that have long existed within entertainment,” explaining that the label’s “projects” are designed as “immersive artistic experiences” that allow its artists to “focus on there [sic] music and not worry about filming of social media content.”

“We recognize that conversations around AI in music are important and evolving. At Iron Faith Records, we view AI as a creative instrument—similar to digital production software, visual effects, or vocal processing — not a replacement for human creativity. Every release involves human creative direction, songwriting, real human singing, editing, curation, and intentional artistic decision-making,” Holm continued. “We understand that listeners may engage with music in different ways, and we welcome respectful dialogue about the future of AI-assisted artistry. Our goal has always been to create meaningful music with authentic emotional impact and purpose.”

Regarding his title of reverend, Holm said that “questions regarding personal credentials or private matters are respectfully considered outside the scope of label operations… However I can insure [sic] that our president is Mr. Holm and he has a vast array of achievements including being a ordained minister.”

To Holm’s credit, it’s true that pseudonymous acts are nothing new; neither are virtual artists and bands. Even so, his claims about the artists each being comprised of real people creating AI-free music felt pretty thin, since the music just sounds obviously AI-generated. And even if you set that aside, it’s hard to believe real human musicians are actually behind the sheer amount of content that these different acts have been churning out.

We first reached out to Iron Faith with a list of questions on Friday afternoon; by Sunday morning, the artist had pumped out three brand-new full-length albums — “Call of the Warhost,” “Ragnarok Rising,” “Eyes of the Valkyrie” — bringing his total up to 12 full-length albums in 2026 alone. Hammer to the Cross has put out 35 full-length albums since 2025; Apexwolf has published a staggering 56 in the same span, including some records with more than 20 songs.

“So for the past week I generated songs and posted them,” reads an older Apexwolf Facebook post, dated to November 2025. The post was published before the AI-generated Apexwolf persona emerged. “Should I keep it going or go back to the old shanties and not much else?”

Elsewhere, Outlaw Renegades and Frostwolflore have published a comparatively meager five and six full-length albums in 2026, respectively. Ravynna, who only recently launched her solo career, according to her Facebook page, has published one full-length album.

It’s an extraordinary amount of music for any single artist, let alone one a group of artists represented by the same small independent label, to be cranking out. When we pressed Holm on how its allegedly human artists could be publishing such an inhuman amount of material, he doubled down, insisting that his label’s workers are simply hard workers.

“That is correct all lyrics and music are created 100 percent human,” he said. “Our artists record almost constantly and we are determined to keep a fast paced distribution across all of all artists so the fans and public can have new music they can enjoy, after-all [sic] in the entertainment industry we are here for the fans and strive to bring quality and consistent content for everyones enjoyment. This is also why we do not lean or promote live performances, we almost entirely record in our own studios.”

Asked whether he’d be willing to share videos of his label’s artists recording in-studio in order to corroborate their existence, Holm declined.

“After a conversation with our team at this time, I will respectfully decline to provide any additional information, interviews, or video recordings. I also do not plan to participate further in discussions regarding studio footage or behind-the-scenes materials,” Holm responded. “I appreciate your understanding and wish you the best with your article.”

In a recent social media video, Ravnlore takes his fans on a studio tour.

“This is where I make my music,” the AI-generated entity tells the camera. “Let me show you around… this is my creative sanctuary, where the viking blood flows into every track.”

Ravnlore’s “creative sanctuary,” however, is clearly AI-generated.

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